Nutting: AT&T SportsNet fallout to be 'very painful' for Pirates, Penguins

UPDATE: Nutting addresses situation

Pirates owner Bob Nutting was asked about the TV and media rights situation Saturday in Bradenton, Fla., and his response was ... well, alarming.

Here's what Nutting said, per our Alex Stumpf in Bradenton:

"Short term, it's going to be very painful. It's going to be really painful for the Pirates, it's going to be very painful for the Penguins."

There was no further elaboration, but Nutting isn't usually one to exaggerate or overblow things. So, when he uses the word "painful" multiple times, one can only wonder just how significant of a blow it could be for the two franchises.

Nutting did say "short term," which sounds like a sliver of positive news. Because the bottom line is a lot of this certainly could come down to just how short or long the Pirates and Penguins may have to be dealing with the financial fallout of everything.

ORIGINAL STORY

AT&T SportsNet will be leaving the Pittsburgh market, meaning the Pirates and Penguins both will be looking for a new local broadcasting rights affiliate.

Sports Business Journal broke the news Friday evening that Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of AT&T SportsNet, will be getting out of the regional sports network (RSN) business.

RSNs have become increasingly embattled financially, which we reported last week, as both Warner Bros. Discovery and Diamond Sports Group have been caught in the changing landscape of sports broadcasting rights.

From the Sports Business Journal story on Warner Bros. Discovery:

"The company, which operates three AT&T SportsNet-branded channels in Denver, Houston and Pittsburgh and has a minority stake in the Root Sports channel in Seattle, has told teams that they have until March 31 to reach an agreement to take their rights back. If the RSNs can’t reach deals with the teams, the channels eventually plan to move forward with a Chapter 7 liquidation filing.

"In a statement provided to SBJ, WBD said, “AT&T SportsNet is not immune to the well-known challenges that the entire RSN industry is facing. We will continue to engage in private conversations with our partners as we seek to identify reasonable and constructive solutions.”

So, what does this all mean for the Pirates and Penguins?

Both teams now will be able to shop their television rights to different providers, but it remains unclear how the finances of those deals may work out. The deal both franchises had with AT&T SportsNet were considered favorable to the teams.

In the Sports Business Journal story, it reported, "sources also pointed to the Pirates deal in Pittsburgh as one that is especially advantageous to the team. Sources said the Pirates bring in an average of around $60 million per year from its local media deal."

The dollar figure is not that high, according to Dejan Kovacevic's reporting Friday.

We will continue to follow this developing story with updates on how TV negotiations are playing out, so that fans will know where they can watch Pirates and Penguins games locally.